A Graduation Sneak Peak:)

Will is officially done with high school! Feel free to leave him a little note of congrats here :) I know he is so excited to be done... We are having a great weekend, although staying busy with graduation, graduation parties, and family in town! I'll post lots more of the too-many pictures we took once things have died down a bit (I feel like I always say that, but it is true!) Here's one of me and Will... going to miss him so much next year!

Wordless Wednesday~ Baccalaureate

A few things...

Just a quick post since it's been almost a week since my last one...

I've been so busy with school coming to a close! We have two more "real" days and then just exams! Woohoo! I am so ready for this year to be over, but at the same time, a little sad.



Over the weekend, we had our state track meet which was good. It rained on and off both Fri. and Sat., but the sun came out in between and we were able to finish the meet. Our team did okay... pretty good for our first year in our new division!



The girls went to their first birthday party on Saturday! Their little friend Mia turned three and they celebrated with her and some of Mia's other friends with a cookout and moon bounce! Both girls went on about how much fun they had :)



Last week, Mom and the girls went with Mia and her mom to the dairy farm... another fun field trip! Mom snapped lots of pictures from that, and I promise to post them soon! Like I said, with school coming to a close, things have been CRAZY. Once it settles down a little, I promise I'll post more!

Both girls are great! Kate went to the doctor today... she weighs a whopping 18.8 pounds! She is so tiny. So, so sweet yet so tiny. She's talking like crazy though! She amazes me more and more every single day. Booie, of course, is Booie. She's crazy and sweet, talkative and smiley.

Lastly, Will graduates on FRIDAY night!!! We have some family coming in town, so that will be fun. Booie is excited to share a bed with Sissy! She's excited to see her grandmas and aunt, too, of course!

So that's about it... Sorry that was so quick. Just wanted to get a little update in and let you all know that I'm alive :) I promise a better post soon!

AnnaClaire the Guitar*Hero

AnnaClaire loves to play guitar hero with Will. She gets sooo excited and it's adorable. She is going to miss her big brother so much when he heads to Bay*lor in the fall! We all will, that is for sure.

He gives and takes away...

This afternoon, I came home and clicked on precious Kayleigh's blog, as I have done time after time. Yet, this time was different and I was brought to tears reading that Kayleigh went to her eternal home last night. I ask you to pray for this sweet family in this difficult time.

Also, sweet Maria Chapman would be turning 6 years old tomorrow. So I remind you of precious Maria because this family NEEDS our prayers, especially during this hard, hard month.

It doesn't make sense to me that these two precious girls are just two of MANY that have gone to their eternal home far too early. That is something that in my lifetime, I will never understand. I do know that God has used both of these girls' stories to change many lives and I pray that lives continue to change through the legacy that these young girls have left... and their parents' choice to live out the following song through their grief:

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away

You give and take away

My heart will choose to say

Lord, blessed be Your name

Happy Mother's Day~

When God set the world in place,

when He hung the stars up in space,

when He made the land and the sea,

then He made you and me.

He sat back and saw all that was good,

He saw things to be as they should.

Just one more blessing He had in store;

He created a mother, but whatever for?

He knew a mother would have a special place

to shine His reflection on her child's face.

A mother will walk the extra mile

just to see her children smile.

She'll work her fingers to the bone

to make a house into a home.

A mother is there to teach and guide,

a mother will stay right by your side.

She'll be there through your pain and strife,

she'll stay constant in your life.

A mother will lend a helping hand

until you have the strength to stand.

She'll pick you up when you are down,

when you need a friend she'll stick around.

A mother is one who listens well,

will keep her word; will never tell.

A mother never pokes or pries

but stands quietly by your side,

giving you the strength you need,

encouraging you to succeed.

A mother is one who can be strong

when you need someone to lean on.

You're more than a mother to me;

a reflection of Him in your face I see, a love that knows no boundaries.

I'm glad that you chose to be all this and more to me.

You share a love that knows no end,

you're more than my mother,

you are my friend.

(Kari Keshmiry)

Three Word Wednesday

adorable.

sweet.

funny.

Prayers for Kayleigh

There is a precious, 10 month old baby girl who lives very close to us and goes to a Church that I often go to. Sweet Kayleigh was born last June, three months early. She weighed one pound and one ounce at birth and it was amazing she even survived. She has been in the hospital since birth and has come incredibly close to going home with her Heavenly Father. Yet, these amazing miracles keep occuring and Kayleigh was doing great and nearing her time to go home with her earthly family... until in mid April, she went through surgery. She was doing well in recovery and then just stopped waking up. It was discovered that Kayleigh is brain dead and has a very short time left on this earth, according to the doctors. However, we serve the Master Physician and know that He can change all of this in an instant. So I ask you to pray... pray for God's will to be done and pray for COMFORT for Kayleigh and her sweet family during this difficult time. I assure you that you will be blessed (and most likely brought to tears) by reading their blog. They have amazing faith, amazing love, and an amazing little girl who needs our prayers!!http://www.kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/

Melts My Heart...

I witnessed the sweetest moment on the way home from youth group (I lead a small group of 6th grade girls every Sunday night) tonight... AnnaClaire said to me, "Sissy, look at me and Kate! We're holdin' hands!" I turned around, and there were my two sweet girls with the biggest smiles and their hands locked. And my heart just burst. These two aren't just sisters... they are the best of friends. Sure, it might've taken months to get to that point, and every moment is still not glorious. But it's the moments like these, moments where Kate whispers, "AnnaCare! Good morning!", moments when they wrap eachother up in hugs before bedtime... it's those moments where I am blown away by what a miracle adoption truly is... for bringing these two little girls together to become sisters and best friends.

And while we're talking about the miracle of adoption (and melting my heart for that matter!), can I just add one last thing?

Today when we picked AC up from Sunday School, her teacher informed us that they had asked the kids what the best day of their lives was. AnnaClaire said that hers was the day she came home from China to America. Let me tell you that we RARELY ever talk about that. AnnaClaire knows that she was born in China and came on the big airplane home to us, but to put it into her own words and call it the best day of her life... Could that be any sweeter?

May already...

It's been awhile since I've updated you guys on what's going on in my life... so I thought I'd take a minute to do so.

School is going well... nothing special. I am SO ready for summer! We get out on May 29 (Will graduates on the 22nd!), so less than a month to go! Track is finishing up... we had one of our last meets last night and I got second in both shot and discus! School is extremely hard (have I mentioned that I'm so ready for summer?!?!) Today, we got a little break and I spent the day with six other friends at a golf tournament nearby. I gave Phil Mick*elson a high five, got a ball from Ian Poul*ter, and was standing less than 10 feet away from people like... Ti*ger Wo*ods! It was a beautiful day and other than spending outrageous prices on food, we had such an awesome time! I've been doing lifeguard training the past few Saturdays because I am working as a lifeguard at our pool this summer! I'm so excited, as not only is it good pay, but I have lots of friends who are also guarding. Plus, I get my license in June and am trying to save up for a car :) (a girl can dream, right?) I'm going to the beach at the very end of the month with some good friends, because two of them are graduating and so we're going as a "celebration" for them. Don't worry though, one of the youth leaders (my small group leader, actually!) at our Church is going with us! Then at the beginning of June, we are off to our annual shore trip to visit with some dear, dear friends from AC's travel group. Most exciting of all, though, is the fact that in just over two months, I will be leaving for my trip to CHINA! July 14th to be exact:) I am so, so excited about that trip and cannot wait to see the ways that my aunts, the other girl going, and I are used there!!!! So there's a little bit about what's been going on in my exciting 16 year old life! Oh and I think I failed to mention the fact that I live with the two most adorably precious little girls on the planent... They have been fun and kept us busy, too :)

So that's about it for me... Hope you are all doing well, too!

Hints of Summer...

The little girlies have loved playing outside in our garage/side yard/flat part of our driveway lately! Most days, when I get home from track, I sit in a lawn chair and watch them until dinner. They have gotten so creative and have so much fun riding their cars/bikes, making choo choos, playing with the sled (who said sleds are only for snow? they are just as fun in the grass!), playing soccer, chalk, house, princesses, etc. I'm sure you can tell from the pictures that the girls love this time of day! AnnaClaire and Kate's ayis both told us when we got the each girl that they loved being outside... that's still true, as you can see! :)

Three and a Half~

Sweet Booie,

You are officially three and a half today! Where has time gone? When did my adorably pudgy baby turn into a beautiful toddler? Slow down, big girl! Your sissy isn't ready for you to grow up! :) Love you so much, precious girl!

Love,
Sissy

6 Months Together!

My goodness, how our little girl has grown in these six months that she's been a part of our family. It's incredibly hard to believe that just six months ago, we held our precious Katherine MeiLing for the first time. The little girl we had longed for and prayed for for years. Why is it that these months have flown by, yet I can barely remember life without sweet Kate? She has come so far in the six months she has been in our family. She has taken such big strides and has really grown in these six months. She's still tiny, but definitely not the baby we received on October 25, 2008. She is incredibly go-with-the-flow, her vocabulary is truly flourishing (she was said to be behind her her speech at PHF, but she is really talking... even in sentences!) She has only gained two pounds and now weighs a whopping 19 pounds! She's got to have grown atleast two inches, too. Yet it's really not those physical ways that she has changed that I notice. It's that she is finally happy. She and AnnaClaire are the sweetest friends. She's caring, loving, adorable... she does anything you ask her to do (other than eat!), she gives the sweetest kisses and hugs... She loves life, she loves doing anything, she loves her FAMILY. Those first few days with her... even the first few months, I sometimes wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. Kate was NOT easy. She whined all the time. I remembed how me and Mom would talk about how difficult she was going to be as a teenager... we're not thinking that anymore! She is about the easiest child EVER. It saddened me so much to see her mourn for all she had lost. I remember looking at pictures we received of her at PHF and seeing how happy she was there... yet she just didn't have that light. But now, she has that sweet sparkly smile, that infectious joy that we saw in pictures. Those whines have been turned into sweet giggles and her somber face has turned into a face full of joy. I have come to love this little girl more as each day goes on and I can not imagine my life without her! She is a perfect fit for our family and we are all madly in love with her! Praise God for the ways he has allowed her to trust and love her mommy, daddy, and siblings. Praise Him for bringing her into our family six months ago!

I love you, my sweet Katie Cakes! Happy 6 months together!

Gotcha Day: October 25, 2008 1 month: November 25, 2008
2 months: December 25, 2008

3 months: January 25, 2009
4 months: February 25, 2009
5 months: March 25, 2009

Botanical Gardens with Mia!

Yesterday, the little girls and Mom went to the botanical gardens with Mia and her mommy. They had a gorgeous day for it, once again, and had a very fun time. No one brought a camera, but Mom said there were people everywhere taking pictures of the girls. One lady jotten down Mia's mom's email and sent them to us :) So... enjoy!

Kate's six month post coming soon:)

AC's solo, playing outside, and making dinner...

Well the exciting news in our house is that AnnaClaire sang a SOLO at Bible Study today! She sang by herself (with her teacher next to her) into the microphone for over 200 ladies! AnnaClaire and Kate as well as all the other littles ones at Bible Study then put on a whole "performance" for all the women. AnnaClaire was so excited to tell me and Daddy when we got home! Wish I could've gotten some pictures and video... but I can only imagine how cute she was singing her solo! She sang one of the memory verse songs that the 2s and 3s learned- 1 John 4:11.

Oh and just because... the dress Kate is wearing is the first dress we bought for her! It has her little monogram in the front. It's one of my favorite dresses and it finally fits her!!!

We had another BEAUTIFUL afternoon today, so after track practice, I brought the little girls outside and we played for awhile. They both love to play outside... ride their bikes/cars, do chalk, blow bubbles, play with balls, run around, etc. Once we went back in, AnnaClaire, Kate, and I cooked pancakes for dinner!

And the day is ending in the little girls' favorite way- Dora and Diego and then bathtime!

I don't know about you, but I'd call that a pretty good day.

{Lastly, PLEASE scroll down a post and read about our *need* for quilt squares. Would love one from any of you reading this!!}

"Pity Peas!"

I've been going through Kate's quilt squares recently and realized that we are only about halfway there. We need 100 squares for her quilt and have like 48. I know that many people reading this blog have followed and loved our girls and thought it would be so awesome if you all could send a square for Miss Kate's quilt. AnnaClaire's quilt is used as her bedspread and I love that she is sleeping under the love of 100 special people. We really want to do the same for Kate and would love if you could contribute to her quilt! So... if you haven't sent a square yet and would like to, here's all you have to do...

Cute a 8x8 inch square of a piece of fabric that you like

write out a "wish", prayer, or Bible verse for sweet Kate (and sign your name!)

attach a small piece of the fabric you sent to the wish so that Kate can match up the squares with the wishes

Easy enough, right?

So just email me (my email adress is emilyh331@gmail.com) and I can give you the address to send it to! Thank you in advance for you help! It means SO much to us and I know it will mean so much to Kate!

If you want to see some examples, check Kate's quilt blog. I haven't posted all of them (I'm so bad about that!) but there are quite a few on there that you can see.

Azaleas :)

I just love spring! We have had some absolutely gorgeous weather this week and the azaleas around here are in full bloom. We have a big bush of them in our front yard and I just had to get my two beauties by them :) Honestly- could my sweet little sisters be any cuter?

Sweet Kate in China

As you know, God put our sweet Kate in an amazing place, where her needs were met, she was loved, she was taught about Jesus, and she was prepared for a FAMILY! That amazing place where she lived was the Philip Hayden Foundation and she lived there for much of her life in China. We were blessed beyond belief to discover that fact about two months after reciving our sweet girl's referral. During our wait for her, we were able to get a ton of info, many pictures, etc. on our beautiful girl. By the time we were united with sweet Kate, we had over 100 pictures of her. That is absolutely amazing for any internationally adopted child. That just doesn't happen. But that's not all... Over the weekend, we received another special gift... a CD of over 200 pictures of our precious Kate. There were some we had seen, but there were a bunch that we had never seen. I remember how finding pictures of Kate affected me while we waited for her. I loved seeing them, yet they made me want to get her right THEN! And even though our sweet girl is with us now, I didn't enjoy these pictures any less. I am so glad we have these to show her at some point... to show her how loved she was even when she was considered an orphan. And although looking at some of the pictures make me sad (like one we have of her with chicken pox) I am so glad to see how HAPPY she looks in most of them! Oh what a smile these pictures bring to my face. I'm sad that we didn't get to experience these stages of her life, but so happy that we have been blessed with ways to see her grow even when we couldn't be there! So enjoy these handful of some of my favorite pictures of our sweet Kate that I haven't already posted!